I LOVE and my customers LOVE the butterdream recipe(two sticks butter, 1 cup crisco). However, I live in Texas and it is starting to get hot. I feel that it starts 'melting' and gets REALLY soft and doesn't seem to hold corners well. I have multiple weddings(my first) to do this summer and am petrified to use this recipe, though that's what my customers want. Is there anyway to make it more heat hardy? I tried meringue powder once, but then it seemed like it wouldn't crust so I could smooth it. Any ideas?

lots of people use indydebi's b/c icing recipe. it is suppose to withstand the heat. she swears by it. and also,some have switched to sharon zambito b/c recipe for the heat problem. their recipes are on this site. and sharon shows how to make hers on youtube. and she also has a great dvd on buttercream. all of her dvd's are wonderful.hth

Butter has a lower melting point so it does tend to be softer than crisco in the heat.

Meringue powder shouldn't keep the icing from not crusting and I believe (my personaly experince) that it does help make icing a little more stable in the heat.

An issue this time of year is that it is starting to warm up outside, but not everyone has turned the AC on. I finally turned mine on this weekend. So it could also be that your house is warm, especially the kitchen if you bake on the same day, and that will make the icing softer to work with as well.

I have learned that in my house I can not bake and ice the cakes on the same day, even when the AC is on, because my kitchen just stays hot.